Woof Nanny

Crafting, Sewing, and Contemplation...

Friday, March 16, 2012

Give a Hoot!

Since January 2010, San Diego county has been famous for it's owl cam in San Marcos.People can view a live feed of what's happening in the nest, and comment on a forum.It's pretty freakin' cool.Sadly the news reported today that the male, McGee, appears to have died.The owl mates are named Molly and McGee.Hopefully Molly will find another mate.

My mom has about two and a half acres, and an owl would be a welcome tenant to keep the gophers under control.Those gophers are cute as can be, but they're turning my garden into a quicksand zone.

I've been wanting to get an owl box for awhile, and serendipity had me drive past a guy selling some amazing boxes out in Jamul today.By FAR these are the nicest boxes I've seen--they even have shingled roofs!

The website is Custom Owl Boxes.Take a look.These are even nicer in person.He also makes bat boxes (bats eat lots of icky insects like mosquitos).

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Fabric Baby Blocks

I have so many months of posts to catch up to.Not having internet at home is cutting into my blogging.I sewed these months ago but am just getting around to posting.

Anyway, remember those baby blocks I made for Ashlyn?Her mom asked if I'd make baby Makenzie a set also.I used the same Amy Butler pattern, but this time I stuffed the blocks with foam squares instead of stuffing.An upholstery store was able to cut the squares for me--it was easier than I thought it was going to be!The result is a stiffer block.Both (stiff or soft blocks) are cute, it's just an individual preference.Sadly this version of blocks didn't make it onto her birth announcements.That was a pretty cool endorsement previously.

Here's the finished blocks, all eight of them!(I should have stacked them up like a triangle. Oh well)I was able to choose my own fabrics based on the baby's room decor, which this time was a purple dandelion theme.I immediately thought of wishes, stars, and fairies, so I went with that idea, being mindful to match the grape color and keep additional colors to a minimum.Who knew there were so many variations of the color purple?!Funny, considering I made Ashlyn a fairy dress I guess I like fairies more than I realized.

Coupled with Pocket Pixie fabric by Alexander Henry, and a sparkly solid that coincidentally matched the letters on the wall

I included a couple squares of the bedding dandelion fabric for the blocks--something that made the mom cry (with joy), which really made me feel good at the baby shower.That gorgeous star fabric is Sheherazade, by Lizzy House for Andover Fabrics (an Etsy purchase).

Each block contained one square of soft purple minky.

I like the idea of tactile blocks, so in addition to the minky I used a flannel.

I found some incredible photo realistic dandelion fabric on Spoonflower.

The front of each block included one letter of her name, made using a plastic stencil and the Sheherazade fabric.I embellished each block with some dreamy ribbon I bought on Etsy, as well as fussy cuts from the Peter Pan fabric.The letters were fused then stitched with a solid dark purple thread onto a solid lavendar linen (another luscious Japanese fabric).

About Me

I'm a pet sitter, hence the name Woof Nanny (my primary blog).
I don't know how to add a link to 'older posts', but my archives are listed by month in the sidebar, so I hope you investigate.
Please feel free to post comments here, or send me an email at barbian7@yahoo.com. Thanks for reading my blog!